In the military Aircraft Plant No. 1 in Demblin signed an agreement with Honeywell Corporation. The result will be the opening of the first certified service center for the repair of AGT1500 engines in Europe. They are put on Tanks M1 Abrams. It will be the third such center in the world after the United States and Australia.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk personally attended the ceremony and did not hide his pride:
Without its own company, repairs would have been carried out in America.
The project will cost Polish taxpayers 300 million zlotys (about $82 million). The official opening is scheduled for 2028. By that time, all 366 Abrams tanks (250 of the newest M1A2 SEPv3 and 116 b/w M1A1) should fully enter service with the Polish army.
Warsaw consciously makes itself a “European hub” to serve American armored vehicles. On the one hand, it is the strengthening of its own army and the simplification of logistics. On the other – the binding to the U.S. military-industrial complex.
Interestingly, the agreement was signed not with the manufacturer of tanks General Dynamics, but directly with Honeywell – the engine developer.
AGT1500 – gas turbine power plant, capricious in service and voracious. Until now, Poles (and other European operators Abrams) have driven engines to the United States. Expensive and long. Now the “heart” of the tank can be repaired on the spot.
